8 Simple Ways to Make Your Printer Ink Last Longer

Do you print a bunch of coupons like me? If you do, then you are probably aware that printer ink cartridges are extremely costly and can also run out incredibly quickly.

These are some simple tips and tricks that can make your printer ink last for a longer period of time:

Choose your fonts wisely

Bold text and thick fonts such as Impact and Comic Sans use up a lot of ink. Next time you print out a document, try changing the font to something more economical like Garamond, Arial or Courier. You can even purchase a font called Ecofont, which is a font composed of many little holes that are invisible to the eye. Ecofont uses about 20% less ink compared to others.

Keep it small

Just like the fonts you use, your font size matters, too. Larger fonts use more ink! Keep your fonts between 10pt to 14pt when possible.

Print what you like

Printing web pages can be a waste of ink due to all the unnecessary images and ads. Use a great online service known as PrintWhatYouLike.com that allows you to manually select the elements of the page that you’d like to print and even change the font sizes!


Do you usually find typos on your documents after they’ve been printed out? Proofreading your documents before printing might just save you one or two reprints!

Adjust your printer settings

Make some changes on your printer’s default settings. If your documents aren’t too important, adjust your print quality to the draft or economy setting, and then change its color to grayscale.

Ignore initial warnings

Are you getting warned that your printer is out of ink? Ignore the first few warnings, no matter how many times they pop up. The chances are incredibly slim that your cartridge is completely empty—so don’t go replacing it just yet.

Print preview

Say goodbye to printing documents that weren’t properly formatted or didn’t fit on one page. Catch those mistakes early on. Use the Print Preview option and save a lot of time, paper and ink.

Keep a digital copy

Not all documents have to be printed. Ask yourself if you really need a hard copy of a certain document. If a digital copy of a document will do, then save the file and give your printer a break.

These tips might seem simple, but they’ll make a huge difference on the amount of printer ink (and paper) that you use up on a regular basis. Try them out and marvel at how far your printer ink can go!

Photo Credit: iClipart